Week 4: Interviewing More Architects

We interviewed two firms this week, and we liked both. The two firms have very different personalities.

The first firm sent a principle and an associate architect. They seemed a little stand-offish and professional. They do mostly commercial work, but they do a few residential projects each year. They designed Maryland's first LEED Platinum building, so their green credentials are strong. They seemed to be much more interested when we told them our only absolutes are not to change the front and the interior stairs must change. Our hope is that since they do few residential projects, they would want to do projects they really went to do and will do a good job. We also suspect a firm may give primary responsibility for a small project like this to a junior person who wants an opportunity to impress the bosses with his/her work. They did flat-out say they would not be interested if they did not also manage the construction. Thats' a relief for us, as we do not want to be construction managers. They also said they have contractors calling them up asking for work, so it looks like this may be a very good time to be doing this. One thing made us think twice about this firm: They misspelled the name of the client in documents on their web site from an architectural competition. As the client is a nearby city, they should have that right.

The second firm had a totally different personality, although the look and feel of their work is somewhat similar to the previous firm's. Although only one person (one of the principals) came, she was very personable. We got the feeling that with her firm, we would all end up friends at the end. I know Juan Felipe really likes that. They have a second web site that is filled with pictures of the firm members at clients' homes for cocktail parties, presumably when the project is finished and turned over to the client. This seems to have given Juan Felipe a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. She indicated that she would work with any contractor we selected, and that she would suggest contractors if we wanted. She had had both wonderful and horrible experiences with client-selected contractors. She also explained a bit about how her firm works, which I suspect is similar in other firms. An assistant does most of the grunt work, but she and the other principal architect keep close tabs on the work to make sure the project fits what the client wants and the style the firm is trying to maintain. Both she and her partner live a few blocks from their office, so they are able to stay abreast of the work.

Her timetable was a bit later than the others. I think she was probably being a bit more realistic about the holidays. She also has a few contractors she likes working with, which is an advantage in my book. The disadvantage I see with this firm is they have made substantial changes to the Standard AIA contract. It looks like it would prevent us from ever taking pictures of or in teh house and using them for any reason. It looks like if we took Christmas photos in the house we would need to get their permission to send them to friends and family. I hope that's not their intent. We would need to clarify that. [Hindsight: It seems that all architects make a grab here. Under copyright law, if I hire you to create a work that can be copyright, I own that work. It was done at my behest and expense, so I own it. The standard AIA contract seems to accept this. No architect does, though, and they all seem to put in a clause claiming ownership of their work with a limited license to the client. This firm's language is harsher than others, however.]